The Great Northern suburban scheme 1978?

[18B]

Hi, would anyone happen to have a timeline of The Great Northern suburban scheme and when it came live please? 

 

one date I have is 13 March 1978? is tat when it was formally opened? 

 

TIA

[chris p bacon]

My stuff is packed away at present for a house move so I can't confirm, but I think the date you've mentioned is the outer suburban to Royston with the 312's. The inner suburban from WGC & Hertford to Moorgate (313's) was 1976(?)

[phil-b259]

IIRC the transfer of inner suburban services to Moorgate was needed before the rebuilding of Kings Cross throat could be done.

[bécasse]

Class 313 electric units started an interim public service between Drayton Park and Old Street (only) on August 16 1976, the full service from Moorgate via Finsbury Park to Welwyn Garden City and Hertford North followed on November 8 of the same year. Diesel services to Moorgate via Kings Cross were withdrawn permanently from the same date.

[Michael Hodgson]

58 minutes ago, chris p bacon said:

My stuff is packed away at present for a house move so I can't confirm, but I think the date you've mentioned is the outer suburban to Royston with the 312's. The inner suburban from WGC & Hertford to Moorgate (313's) was 1976(?)

Sounds about right.  It was like that when I moved here in 1979.  Some peak hour 313s ran to Kings Cross, as did any which failed tripcock testing approaching Finsbury Park

 

Wikipedia is notoriously unreliable but I don't see any obvious mistkes in this

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Northern_route

[31A]

There's a month by month chronology in David Percival's book King's Cross Lineside 1958-1984".

[Oldddudders]

ISTR a friend and colleague being on the platform at Drayton Park on the first day, when the first train came out of the depot. As he then lived in Chatham this was no mean feat. Whatever, the first train out of the depot was sent straight back - having failed its tripcock test! 

[Rivercider]

I took this photo at Hornsey in October 1976. My notes say this was taken 'before the introduction of electric services in late 1976', which would fit with earlier posts.

313021/025/007/016 at Hornsey 9/10/76,

 

cheers